some wise words from Tom Petty

"If they would've tried to offer my generation music by someone that had won a game show, it would've been hysterical. You would've been laughed out of the room."

http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2014/07/17/tom-petty-q-exclusive/

 

I'm sure people will be posting examples that are contrary soon

 

Good line but I doubt his next one was, "But if you were the captain of a starship on a TV show, or even its pointy eared science officer, you could get a multi record deal."

It's still fame and free publicity, only a different way to kick off a career, one that Shatner has kept going for almost 50 years.

 

That didn't take long...

 

Yeah, because in his generation there weren't any tv shows like the Ted Mack Amateur Hour or Arthur Godfrey. And nobody would have dared put out records by a band who was created just for a sitcom or anything like that.....

....as the result of shows like Idol and The Voice and Nashville Star have shown us, either you've got the goods or you don't. Everybody needs a break at some point in their career--Tom Petty included. It's very possible that without American Idol the world would never know Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson or Chris Daughtry, but to say at this point that they aren't as deserving of their success as are other similar stars who came up through different paths is absurd.

 

Thanks for posting this OP.

 

I am not sure that Shatner and Nimoy prove your point as they were pretty much laughed at for their attempts at music in the 60s whereas now people who compete on the game shows are treated as serious artists in many circles.

 

Things were better back in my day and I look down my nose at everything that is popular today.

 

Not to mention a little girl called Miranda Lambert.

 

Remind me to go nowhere near Mr Petty's lawn...

 

So true.

 

It's full of grass and weed!

 

She was on Nashville Star, correct? And didn't win, IIRC. And she's 10 times the singer that her husband is who came up via more traditional means.

But both are obviously deserving because in this business, you're only as good as your last release and you have to keep proving yourself year in and year out. At this point it doesn't matter one whit how Miranda got her first record deal. Being able to do something with that big break is what it's all about.

If everyone who won those game shows went on to success, Petty would have a point. But they don't. Very few do. Can Petty tell us why? Or is he just going to be Mr Grumpy Pants?

 

I agree.

Still, there are serious actors/singers who made the leap. Richard Harris and his huge hit of MacArthur Park comes to mind. I have a record of Jack Lemmon singing and playing cool jazz piano. He's actually quite talented. Walter Brennan is a personal favorite of mine. I have a number of his LPs. He spoke his songs more than he sang them but they are quite good and he was dead serious about his performances.

However you get your break, you take it, as videoman pointed out.

 

I won't back down. So don't do me like that cause I won't come around here no more.

 

Exactly right. The show is just another way for people to get exposure - no different than Ed Sullivan or Hullabaloo, really, in a lot of ways. And for every Underwood and Lambert, there're plenty of winners and high-finishers on those contest shows who have fizzled fast.

 

What isn't commonly known because those shows have a certain script they need to adhere to (Idol especially, The Voice is more open about it) is that few of the contestants are true amateurs. Many have been struggling in the business with various degrees of success for years. They are just another platform for getting yourself out there, and certainly no guarantee of easy stardom.

Most of the contestants are forgotten a week after they are booted off the show. The ones who take it further....that's on them to do that, ultimately.

 

Amen! The assumption is that these folks are only there because of the show and paid no dues beforehand. Why is being discovered at an open tryout for a show and making it through a competition less appropriate than having a talent scout catch them at a bar?

Shatner does a great job of keeping his tongue planted firmly in cheek. I think he gets a kick out of tweaking the critics a bit! Not real sure about Nimoy, he seems to take himself a bit more seriously.

 

Petty is wrong. I have an album of Gene Gene the Dancing Machine. Great talent.

 

Shatner is in on the joke now. I'm pretty sure he was serious about it when he made those recordings though.

 

Sullivan and other variety hours were platforms for signed artists. Idol and the like are sold on the basis of Undiscovered talent. Completely different
Ted Mack(Arthur Godfrey) or Star Search is the correct correlation.
Petty was being snarky for the zap effect.
Underwood will tweet his slam for the win.

 

Not that it matters to the gist of this discussion, and I don't think it does. But comparing Ted Mack and Arthur Godfrey to American Idol in societal importance and music biz significance seems like a crazy stretch to me.

 

Winning a game show didn't hurt Mary Hopkin.

 

A band that was created as fodder for a TV show in 1966 is now viewed as "serious artists". How were the Monkees more "real" than singers who win "AI" or the like?

 

"The model Twiggy saw her winning the British ITV television talent show, Opportunity Knocks and recommended her to Paul McCartney."